Your Strength
by Harmony Sunsinger
Summary: You were right, InuYasha; it was your human side that brought you down. But not for the reasons you thought it would. It was never your weakness. It was your strength. Written for Challenge Destiny's prompt "Valor."


A/N: This is the full version of "Your Strength." Be prepared; may be confusing, may be very upsetting.

((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((())))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

Your Strength.

My chest tightens as I watch the gravediggers fill the hole we made in the ground with cold dirt.

And you.

How simple everything was for so long. How happy we were.

You… You were stupid, InuYasha.

I could curse you for a million years for all the devastation you have wrought upon this family. _Our_ family…

Our daughter tugs at my hand, asking me when Papa can come home with us again. I listen closely as our teenage son, who hasn't shed a tear since entering high school, sobs openly for his late father.

Yoshiko turns five in a week. You barely missed it.

Haruki begins his driving lessons in less than a month. You'll miss that, too.

But as many times as I can curse you for this, I must praise you as well. You destroyed us, your family… But you saved countless other families from their own destruction, from their own, private torment. That alone makes you worthy of Heaven, reincarnation, and whatever else you deserve.

Heck, if you were somehow reborn in my own lifetime, you'd still have me.

You'll always have me…

You had me that first day, when I met you at the campus several years ago. Such a cocky bastard you were back then, but you were oh so intriguing. Why the Big Man on Campus wanted anything from little nerdy Kagome Higurashi was beyond me… but you did. And it wasn't sex, and it wasn't term papers, and it sure as hell wasn't money.

It took me several months to really understand that it was _me_ you wanted. All of me, from my wide-eyed looks to my curry cravings to my insatiable thirst for knowledge.

And, soon, I wanted all of you too, from your wild-haired rock-n-roll fanaticism to your rough and tumble love of football to your unmatched passion for all things musical.

InuYasha Taisho, it was never just your thick silver locks, or your well-toned body, or your perplexingly golden eyes, or even your absolutely adorable puppy ears that made you _the_ most gorgeous man alive in my eyes.

It was your heart.

On so many occasions, before and after we were married, during my pregnancies, after my pregnancies and during child-rearing – practically _all the time_, I listened to you. Mostly, you ranted and raved about being half-human.

You were always so back and forth on the subject; it was as if you both loved your human side and you loathed it. You hated the way the full-blood demons spoke about you behind your back and to your face, how the kids and I always got such strange looks being out with you in public, how, one night out of the month, you were too weak to fully protect me from that burglar when Haruki was only nine…

I'll never forget the look on your face when you saw my head hit the wall, and I collapsed beneath the intruder. I saw you lunge for him, and I was as stunned as you were when he yelped in sudden pain, trying to pull Haruki from his arm, but our son's jaw had an iron grip.

He's always been just like you, my protector.

You knew your police work was dangerous, I think as I lead the children away from your graveside. Haruki, now taller than I am, takes one look back before glancing at me with tear-filled, golden eyes.

You were right, InuYasha; it was your human side that brought you down. But not for the reasons you thought it would. It was never your weakness.

It was your strength.

(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((())))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

Kagome sat near her husband's bedside, holding his hand close. The doctors had said that it could have gone either way, since he was half demon, but the risk of possible infection was still great, as it always was with gunshot wounds to the gut.

She broke down suddenly, burying her face in her hands. "You were getting better, Inuyasha!" she cried out brokenly. "You were actually improving!"

Just hours before, the doctors had come to her and told her that he was almost in the clear. Then, the sun had set, and the change had happened. As a hanyou, Inuyasha was more than capable of surviving the infection.

As a human, his chances plummeted.

Just outside the hospital room door, Haruki sat on a bench, holding Yoshiko close so that his mother could sob as hard and as long as she wanted to without any interruptions. He knew that it was exactly what she needed right now, since she couldn't have their dad anymore.

((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((())))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

"Oi, Sango!"

The female officer sat up in the passenger seat and turned her head, blinking at her partner. Inuyasha grinned at her. "Daydreaming on the way to a call?" he asked as they both ignored the constant, annoying blaring of the dispatcher. "Tsk, tsk, young lady."

She made a face at him. "You know I take our calls very seriously, 'young man,'" she shot back, smirking at the pout that formed as a result of her teasing.

He sobered immediately after the poking and prodding ended, keeping his eyes steadily trained on the road ahead. "So what were you thinking so hard about that I had to say your name three times just to get your attention?"

Sango scoffed, shifting in her seat. "Whatever, you jerk! You only said it once!"

"Well… I might as well have said it three times! Now, 'fess up!"

She sighed. "Well…" She was relieved to see that Inuyasha was keeping his eyes nicely focused on the road ahead, even if he did keep glancing her way with those bright eyes of his. "I found out something a few days ago. I haven't told Miroku just yet, because I'm still not entirely sure how he's going to react…"

Inuyasha's ears physically twitched in her direction; obviously, if she hadn't had his full attention before, she definitely had it now. "Well?" he asked in a low tone. Sango recognized it as his "gentle" tone, despite its gruffness.

"I'm pregnant."

Inuyasha blinked, thoroughly shaken. His eyes shifted somewhat in her direction, finally becoming brave enough to glance at her flat stomach. Sango's hands flew out of her lap at that moment to cover the innocent area. She swallowed hard, refusing to look at him.

"You know that's dangerous, right?" he asked. When she didn't answer, he turned his head to look at her; she was staring out the window, seemingly lost. "I mean, you and Miroku have been trying to get pregnant for _how_ long? And now that you've actually done it…?"

"I don't want to give up my job, Inuyasha," she answered sharply.

He groaned, rubbing his forehead with his knuckle. "You don't have to, Sango! That's why they have maternity leave."

Sango smacked her partner's arm. "I know that! I just…"

Suddenly, the car came upon the scene. Everything seemed normal enough, though the street was unnaturally quiet. If not for the few cop cars that lined the sidewalk, their drivers and passengers in uniform leaned against the white and black hoods, their firearms trained on the perpetrator inside the store, no one would've ever known that anything was going on.

It was a small video store, nothing too out of the ordinary. Inside, Inuyasha could see hostages flat on their tummies, their hands on the backs of their heads; one little girl in particular caught his eye; she was only about four, Yoshiko's age. She was so frightened she was shivering and shaking, and the gunman, enraged, actually had the gall to point the gun at her.

Inuyasha parked the car, and he and Sango unbuckled their seatbelts and got out, pulling out their guns and meeting Koga and his partner Bankotsu at the head of the assault.

"Okay, you two, listen up!" the wolf youkai barked at the two newcomers. Inuyasha glared at the wolf, but he didn't say anything. "The situation in there is real serious. Assailant is armed with a 12 gauge shotgun, and he's got six hostages. Now, we don't need any funny business or heroism. We just wanna get those people outta there alive!" There were several grunts of approval, one coming from Inuyasha, and he noticed that Sango had lost some of her color upon their arrival.

Suddenly, all of the youkai present stopped, standing completely still as a new noise reverberated from the store: a child's frightened sobbing.

"Shut up!" Inuyasha's ears flicked almost painfully when those angry words reached them. The crying only grew louder. "I said _shut up_!"

Inuyasha's breath caught when another, smaller clicking sound reached his sensitive ears. His golden eyes widened, and he took off at a run toward the store.

"Dog shit!"

"Inuyasha!"

"_Get your ass back here!_"

He had almost made it to the front door of the video store when there came a loud blast from inside. The glass windows and door shattered, and Inuyasha was thrown backward by the impact of the 12 gauge. Blood flew everywhere, seeping through the front of his uniform, and it took him all of two seconds to get right back up to his feet and leap through the now-nonexistent door, tackling the armed robber to the ground. As he weakly wrestled the gun out of the man's hands, he looked to his left. His eyes met those of a frightened little girl, chocolate eyes wide, curly silver hair wet with her own tears. He swallowed hard as his hearing suddenly faded, and he blinked when Koga and Bankotsu arrived, taking the scumbag into custody.

Inuyasha lay there, bleeding profusely on the floor, staring at the small girl as Yoshiko's face and features melted away, leaving a four year old stranger with blue eyes and black hair behind, her face stained with tears.

(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((()))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

Kagome stared at her husband as he pulled on his black shirt, buttoning it all the way down and tucking it into his black slacks to complete his uniform. "Don't go to work today," she said simply, only looking away from him to take a sip from her mug of coffee. Inuyasha turned to her, smirking.

"Presuming to tell me what to do yet again, eh, woman?" he asked in a joking tone as he entered the small, quaint kitchen. He sat down with her at the dining room table as Haruki entered from the hallway, still dressed only in a long, lime green nightshirt and a pair of black PJ pants. The adolescent quarter-demon rubbed his eyes sleepily as he walked up to the counter. He poured two mugs of coffee and handed one over to his father, who chuckled. "You take after your mother too much, pup," Inuyasha commented to his oldest, who merely shrugged and slumped into the chair between the two parents. Kagome blinked at the two of them before taking another sip of coffee and spreading the morning paper across the table.

Inuyasha sighed as she began to read over the classifieds. "Still looking for a job?" he asked her.

She ignored him.

"Ya gonna answer me, Ka-Go-Me?"

Raising her head just a little, she glared at him. "Yes," she shot back icily. "I didn't answer because I didn't feel like arguing, In-Nu-Ya-Sha, but _yes_, I am still looking for a job. Yoshiko is about to start school, and I'll have nothing else to do around here."

"Then let's have another kid."

She gave him a look. "Inuyasha-"

"I know, I know. I'm sorry. I just… I never wanted you to work, y'know? I wanna take care of you." As Inuyasha reached across the table and took her hand in his, Haruki groaned and stood to leave the room, taking his coffee with him.

Inuyasha and Kagome both laughed at their nearly grown pup. "He's so damned grown up already, just like you, my Kagome," the police officer said quietly, watching her with smoldering golden eyes.

She smiled at him. "Please don't go to work today," she murmured, and he leaned forward and kissed her lightly on the forehead.

"But I gotta," he answered in a similarly quiet tone. "People need me, babe." He stood, adorning his black cop hat and walking over to the back door. As he grasped his keys in his hand, his wife stopped him. "Inuyasha, wait!" He turned to look at her as she walked through the kitchen and stopped right in front of him. Before he could react, she reached up and tweaked his accursed left ear. He grabbed the furry appendage, glaring at her as she smiled and backtracked.

"For good luck," Kagome told him. Inuyasha nodded and disappeared out the door.


End file.
